Gov. Tina Kotek has announced that the Oregon Health Authority has joined with Oregon Health & Science University in an effort to secure a three-year supply of mifepristone, a medication used to induce abortion, and the target of a lawsuit by abortion opponents in the federal courts.

Opponents have focused on federal Food and Drug Administration approval that dates back to 2000, and the agency’s subsequent decisions in 2016 and 2021 to make access to it easier. The result has been a legal entanglement that the U.S. Supreme Court had not yet resolved when Kotek made her announcement on Thursday, April 20.

She said:

“By challenging the FDA’s authority over mifepristone, the lower court decisions set an alarming precedent of putting politics above established science, medical evidence, and a patient’s health, life, and well-being — with potential implications beyond this one medication. This meritless lawsuit is part of a larger campaign to ban abortion in every state, including those with legal protections for abortion access. We cannot afford to stand by and watch our fundamental right to reproductive health care be stripped away.”

Oregon Health & Science University became independent in 1995, although it receives state money and remains under the state’s liability shield for state and local governments.

The estimated 22,500 dosages would go to providers, who normally use it along with the drug misoprostol in medication abortions, which accounted for about 60% of all Oregon abortions in 2021.

Kotek also directed the Oregon Health Authority to work with the Oregon Department of Justice to look at all ways to safeguard abortion in Oregon, the only state with no restrictions.

There are dueling lawsuits in the federal courts.

A judge in Texas, known for his expressed opposition to abortion, ruled April 14 in favor of abortion opponents and against the FDA, but stayed his decision for seven days to allow an appeal. In response to an appeal by the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of FDA, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals allowed continued use of the drug but rescinded FDA decisions in 2016 and 2021 that made it more readily available — thus requiring in-person doctor visits and banning it from U.S. mail delivery. The Department of Justice/FDA appeal is now before the U.S. Supreme Court, whose temporary stay of both decisions was scheduled to end Friday, April 21.

Meanwhile, in a separate lawsuit filed Feb. 28 in Washington state, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum and Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson sought to rescind FDA restrictions on the drug along with 15 other states and Washington, D.C. A judge on April 14 granted their request, which means that the drug remains available in those states for now.

The Washington Legislature has cleared for Gov. Jay Inslee’s signature a bill to provide a legal shield for providers and others against lawsuits filed in other states where abortion is banned or severely restricted. Oregon lawmakers have similar legal protection pending as part of House Bill 2002, which is scheduled for a vote of the full House on May 1.

As states continue to pass laws targeting abortion patients, providers, and people assisting patients, Kotek said she will refuse non-fugitive extradition of individuals for criminal prosecution for receiving legal reproductive health care services in Oregon, supporting patients in accessing reproductive health care services in Oregon, or providing legal reproductive health care services in Oregon.

She said:

“Here in Oregon, I will make sure that patients are able to access the medication they need and providers are able to provide that medication without unnecessary, politically motivated interference and intimidation. To our providers, to the patients who live in Oregon or have been forced to come to our state for care, and to those who are helping people access the care they need, know that I have your back.”